The Hyuga & The Butterfly
by Rachel.Ongaku
Summary: Chouji and Hyuga Hitomi has just been sent on their first mission together. Chouji
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

This story was originally a roleplay, I have full permission of my partner. It is OC heavy, so if you don't like that I'm sorry. I've tried my best to not make my OC perfect in any way. She's just perfect for Chouji.

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Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanako Ino all sit in the training grounds of Konohagakure on warm spring day. The three had just finished perfecting their combination attack of Ino-Shika-Cho and Ino was grinning brightly at their accomplishments. "Alright guys, we're almost their, just about twenty more tries and I think you'll be just about at my level."

Shikamaru shook his head and leaned into Chouji. "Since when were we weaker than her?" Chouji chuckled and Shikamru gave a sly grin but were both of them quickly shifted to nervous when they saw Ino staring them down with a look they knew all to well. "I think she heard you Shikamaru." Chouji muttered right before Ino went on a Tirade of violent, but usual, proportions. The only thing that stopped them was when another Chuunin jumped down and immediately held a letter out to Chouji. "You have been called on by the Hokage report to her Immediately."

Chouji took the letter and Ino moved over with an eager look on her face. "Alright a new mission, good I was getting bored." The Other Chuunin pointed a finger at Chouji and spoke once more before leaving. "Not you two, just him." Shikamaru and Ino both looked to each other and then at Chouji who looked a bit worried about the note. "Relax Chouji, it can't be anything bad, I mean it's not like you can be demoted from Chuunin back to a Genin right?"

Chouji's head sunk when she said that and even more when she started to mumble to herself to try and remember if you could or couldn't be demoted. Shikamaru nudged Chouji and looked at him with a small grin. "You'll be fine, I bet it's just some standard errand she wants you to run." Chouji smiled weakly at Shikamaru, he always knew how to make Chouji feel better about an uncomfortable situation. Chouji stood up and began running towards the Hokage's office. He looked back and waved to his friends. "Alright be right back guys, don't get too strong without me okay guys!" He smiled and made his way to the Hokages Office.

Hyuga Hitomi was a member of the Hyuga's branch family. She had an older brother, his name was Hyuga Ko and the two siblings were very close. Hitomi was average in every way. She progressed as normally as could be expected for a kunoichi. She graduated from the academy when she was tweleve and she passed her chunin exams when she was fifteen years old. Now, as a Chunin, she was in the middle of having lunch with her teammates. Her teammates consisted of Inuzuka Sumiko, and her dog Hanako, along with Sarutobi Fumio. The three Chunins were enjoying their ramen when they were interrupted by a fellow Chunin.  
"Hyuga Hitomi?" the shinobi inquired. Hitomi set down her chopsticks and turned to face him.  
"Yeah, that's me." she responded. The Chunin nodded and reached into his flack jacket to pull out a letter. Hitomi cautiously took the letter from the man.  
"The Hokage has requested your presence." he announced. Hitomi looked back at Sumiko and Fumio.  
"Just you." he clarified. Hitomi's teammates shrugged, to which she rolled her eyes in response. _Such caring teammates_. She thought to herself.  
"Thank you." Hitomi said to the shinobi before tossing the money to pay for her ramen to Fumio. She then took off towards the Hokage's office. She noticed another shinobi arriving around the same time as her. He had brown hair that was almost spiky and swirl marks on his cheeks. He seemed familiar. Hitomi thought for a moment before realizing that he was a member of the Akimichi clan. He seemed to be going to the Hokage's office as well. When they got there she held the door open for him.

Chouji noticed the young girl and knew right away she was a Hyuga though he didn't remember ever meeting her before. As they found themselves meeting at the Hokages office at the same time the young Hyuga held open the door for the husky ninja. He looked at her and his eyes locked on hers for a moment. The thought of how beautiful she was passed momentarily through his mind before he jutted his gaze to the floor and his timidness took over. "T-thanks..."

He walked in quickly and looked up to see the Hokage sleeping on some old tome and Shizune quickly trying to wake her to let her know of the two ninjas arrival. Finally Tsunade woke up with a small uproar. Chouji shrank away from her as did Shizune before she calmed and realized what was happening. She sighed and stood up handing both of the ninja a small scroll with their mission details on it.

In the middle of her explanation Chouji spoke out which was rare and made the Hokage stop and actually listen. "I don't mean to interupt, Hokage, but why are you sending me and her on this mission and not me and Shikamaru or Ino or her and one of her teammates?" A moment after he finished speaking he thought of how his comment would sound the the Hyuga girl and he turned to immediately make amends. "N-not that I wouldn't want to do this mission with you. I'm sure you're a very nice woman, I was just curious as to why she would pick us. I didn't mea-"

Chouji was silenced by the Hokage who decided the best way to do so was to drop one of her fists onto his head. "The reason I chose you two was because the leader of the village you're going to is a rather 'large' man and I thought that maybe you'd be able to get him to open up more details to you. I chose her because she is just as qualified for this mission as either of your usual comrades. Now pipe down and let me finish the details of this mission." She walked away and Chouji went to rubbing his head . The details of the mission were very vague since the man who sent the request did not want to leave too much vital information in a simple letter that could be intercepted by an enemy of the village.

"You two are to make your way to the village, find the elder and help him with whatever problem he's having in his village. Because of the vagueness of his troubles I can only say that this may be either a C-rank or B-rank mission. Be prepared for the worst. I want you heading out by sunset. Any questions?" Chouji was still busy rubbing his skull from the wound the Hokage had inflicted and didn't decide to speak up again, instead simply nodding in compliance.

Hitomi nodded in response as the boy thanked her. She couldn't help but smile just a little. She thought he was kind of cute, in an adorable and cuddly way. Some part of Hitomi wanted to give the boy a big hug, she was sure he would give great hugs. Hitomi followed him through the door and shut it gently behind her.

The Hokage was asleep, which didn't surprise Hitomi that much. As always, Shizune was right there making up for the Hokage's pitfalls. Hitomi had to admire Shizune for always being there for her sensei. After Tsunade was reluctantly awakened Hitomi was given the directions and information for her mission. Hitomi politely listened to the Hokage's explination and directions for the mission, but was taken aback as the other boy interrupted Tsunade and asked a question that Hitomi had been wondering about as well. Though, his original way of going about the question wasn't completely polite, she felt she would've said the same thing. Why couldn't Fumio or Sumiko go along with her? As the boy, whom she still hadn't discovered the name of, corrected his statement she smiled and shrugged in response. She wasn't offended, especially seeing as she would much rather be on a mission with her teammates, with whom she was more comfortable working with.

Hitomi yelped in surprise as the Hokage's fist hit the Akimichi's head, stopping the boy from continuing to talk. She was sure that made her look like a weak and frail shinobi, when she really wasn't. She just didn't like things jumping out of nowhere when she didn't expect them to. Hitomi frowned slightly at the Hokage's response. Those weren't very good reasons. But, as for Hitomi being chosen, she supposed it was because she had completed severl less mission than her teammates, following the after-effects of the Chunin exams. That time was hard for Hitomi, but in the end it strengthened her and gave her more skills apart from her Kekkei Genkai.

"This is so vague. But no, I guess I don't have any questions that haven't already been answered." she responded. Hitomi turned to leave the room, along with the Akimichi. She grinned and held her gloved hand out towards the boy. "My name is Hyuga Hitomi." she said in greeting.

Chouji followed the girl out and looked down to her extended hand before realizing what she was doing. "O-oh, uhh, Akimichi Chouji, a pleasure to meet you Miss Hitomi." He smiled and shook her hand attempting to do it gently though his hands being the size they were would still feel heavy in anyone Else's hands. He opened his scroll and sighed thinking about the reason the Hokage sad she was sending him on this mission. "So she thinks my only useful skill for this mission will be to talk to another chubby person? That sure helps my self-esteem." Chouji spoke out sarcastically before slumping his shoulders lightly.

He glanced to the girl who was to be his partner and caught himself looking at her eyes. He had seen them before, the Hyuuga clans signature difference from all other ninja. Chouji stood up straight again but looked ahead of himself instead of at Hitomi. "So, your from the Hyuuga clan, so you know the same techniques as Hinata and Neji right? I was in the same class as Hinata before we became Genin and I took the Chuunin exams with both her and Neji, that's how I know them"

Chouji wasn't sure why he felt it necessary to explain how he knew the other Hyuugas, probably because he knew of the bad blood between Neji and Hinata, more so on Nejis part, and wasn't sure how the girl felt about the two relatives. More likely. however, was the fact that he was nervous to be talking to someone without Shikamaru or any of his other good friends around. _'She's nicer than Ino is so far, maybe this will be a good experience for me._ Chouji thought and a small smile grew on his face.

Hitomi smiled politely as Chouji shook her hand. The name sounded familiar, perhaps he was the heir to his clan or had an eventful mission that ran through the rumor mill. She felt a pang of sympathy for her newest comrade when he mentioned the reason he was chosen for the mission. It wasn't something she related to, apart from occasionally being sent on missions because of her gender, but she knew that it must hurt. She thought carefully before answering his question about the Hyugas. She felt there would be more negative emotions attatched to her thoughts on the Hyuga's clan system except for her brother Ko. She was friends with Hinata when they were children. Many times Ko would have the responsibility to watch both Hinata, and herself. She knew that it must've been a burden on him, but she learned a lot about her clan at a young age. She never personally knew Neji but knew of him.  
"Yeah, I guess. The byakugan and all of that stuff. Though, I'm also a med-nin, had some troubles with my byakugan for a few years." Hitomi sighed and looked at the ground. She hated thinking about her years without her Byakugan. She regathered herself quickly and looked back up at the road in front of her, having no idea where they were going.  
"So, um. Do you wanna meet back up at the gate in let's say two hours. Perhaps we could make it to that village with the really good BarBQ place. I forget the name of it, but we could make it there by dinner." she said with a wide smile. She loved planning out her meals on missions. It kept her on track for some reason.

As Chouji listened to his new partner he was taken back at the realization that this young beauty was the one to talk about food first. He chuckled a bit before realizing he had and looked foward. "umm, yeah that sounds perfect. That will give me just enough time to gether some extra supplies and let my teammates know why i'll be gone."

Chouji looked over in the direction of the trainintg grounds before tunring back to Hitomi. "If you'll excuse me, I'll see you then." After waiting for the girls response he turned and ran off in the direction he had been looking. He moved as quick as he could without getting winded. Once he saw Shikamaru he called out and sped over to him. The lazy ninja turned his head and smiled at his closest friend before the chubby one quickly unloaded all of the information he had recieved. "Wow, lucky you, you get to spend some time with a girl who might be less troublesome, at least compared to what I'll be dealing with while your gone." Chouji looked down for a moment before Shikamaru chuckled and patted his back firmly. "Hey, don't worry about me, go enjoy yourself on this mission, alright. And if you're successful I'll treat you to some barbeque pork."

Chouji nodded and then went off to his home to pick up some extra kunai and some extra supplies. He stopped at his families secret weopon, the three pills that could turn all of an Akimichis extra body fat into chakra in a matter of seconds. He had always been reluctant of usig even just the spinach pill and even more so after his fight with Jirobo but since this mission was so vague and still considered either a C or B mission, he took them along as well.

He looked at the time and he had exactly forty five minutes to get to the gate. He took one last look through his supplies and finally walked out of the door to his home and headed down towards the gate. Arriving fifteen minutes early.

Hitomi smiled. "Okay!" she reponded before taking off towards her house. She smiled as she rushed through the village. She wasn't as apprehensive about her mission as she was before. Chouji seemed friendly, and somewhat humorous. When sh arrived at her house she immediately jumped in the shower, like she always did when there was time to prepare for a mission. Afterall, she had no idea how long it would be until her next proper shower. Hitomi found herself in a predicament as she started packing for the mission. She was both a regular chunin and a med-nin, which meant that she had twice as many supplies to carry with her. Which was unfortunate for Hitomi since she wasn't very strong. Usually she could convince her teammates to carry some of her medical suppies for her, but she didn't want to burden someone she didn't know.  
Hitomi pulled out her largest backpack and filled it up with extra clothes, food, water, and other regular camping supplies. She then pulled out her flack jacket. She rarely wore it, but it seemed to be useful for this mission. She loaded it up with her ninja supplies, both her regular ones and her medical supplies. As soon as she was satisfied with her packing Hitomi checked the time. She had fifteen minutes, plenty of time. Hitomi zipped up her flack jacked and pulled her backpack over her shoulders, frowning at the excessive weight.  
When she areived at the gate she was suprised to find that Chouji was already there. She waved at him but the weight of her luggage pulled her backwards and she fell ontothe ground with a yelp.

Chouji's mind was wandering when he saw Hitomi aproach the gate. the first thing he truly notcied however was the large pack she had on her back. The thought passed through his head that if she leaned forward too much that pack could probably squish her. His eyes widened and he immediately rushed over to the young Hyuuga when he saw her go down. He took her hands and helped her up before looking at the immense backpack. "Well, I feel a bit unprepared compred to this." Chouji let out a warm chuckle as he helped the girl remove the weight from her shoulders.

Even he had problems with the backpack for a second and he set it on the ground. "Wow, so you have... all your supplies in here right? hmm, ah!" Chouji smiled and his right arm began expanding to be about four times larger. He then gripped the backpack as if it was nothing but a coinpurse and smiled to his new teammate in triumph. "Well then, now that we've handled our first challenge, let's be on our way, we don't want to waste any time getting to the barbeque."

Hitomi frowned as she was stuck to the ground. She felt like an overturned insect. She eagerly accepted Chouji's helped and whispered "Thank you." as he helped her back onto her feet. She blushed as the young man took her backpack off, she felt like she was now the stereotypical 'weak kunoichi' which was not what she wanted to be. But all disappointing thoughts faded from her mind as Chouji's hand grew. Her mouth hung open.  
But when he insisted they continue on she jumped and grabbed her backpack away from him. She was certain that she could find a few things to leave behind. Almost right on cue Fumio walked by and waved at his teammate. Hitomi went through her bag like a hurricane, taking out antedotes for poison thu wouldn't even come across, extra bandages, extra clothes, and reluctantly took out the large box of pocky she'd packed. She piled it all onto Fumio's arms. "Take this back home. Kay? Bye." she said with a cheery smile.  
Before Hitomi could throw her now significantly lighter bag back onto her back she heard Fumio laugh. Confused she looked up at him following his eyes she found what he was laughing at. She'd left one thing on the ground. A lacy pink bra. Hitomi immediately blushed. She didn't even remember packing that bra for her trip. It was too nice to wear on missions. Sports bras were much more practical for such incidents. She hurriedly picked the bra up off the ground and stuffed it into her bag, blushing furiously. She grabbed Chouji's hand and pulled him towards the gate, ignoring Fumio's almost insane laughter.

Chouji was surprised by the woman quickly snatching her pack out of his enlarged hand and let his hand move back to normal size. He watched the rest of the spectacle as if he was in a movie. He moved his head with every different motion that was made. When the girl looked back to see what the boy was laughing about he looked with her and saw the same article of clothing. He, however, quickly averted his eyes. It just felt wrong to sit there and stare at the girls underwear, especially since he didn't even know the girl very well.

The movie became reality when the girl grabbed his hand and rushed him off with her out the gate. He could do nothing but follow her and stare at the link between the two. His eyes were locked on his hand and hers. He was sure he could stop her if he tried to resist her tugging at his arm but he was too kindhearted for that, he would let her calm down by pulling him along until they were far enough away for her to forget the small incident.

Hitomi walked quickly through the gates and down the road. After a minute or so she realized that she was still holding Chouji's hand. She let go suddenly and looked down at the ground. "Sorry about that, Fumio can be rather...immature." she mumbled, still rather upset about the incident. She gathered herself and looked back up towards the road stretching out before her. She placed her hands behind her head as she steadily walked in silence for a few moments.

"So, Chouji-kun. I guess we should get to know each other since this seems like a pretty long mission...So uh, tell me about yourself I guess?" she said with a small smile. She looked back at her comrade, wishing she had something more specific to ask. She wouldn't know how to respond if she was asked that.

Chouji gave a light-hearted smile to his new teammate and waved a single hand in front of his own face. "No need to apologize, everyone handles situations differently. Some are more delicate while others are... well, like your friend Fumio was." As he heard her ask him the most open ended of all questions he thought hard for a moment, his eyes focused on the ground.

After a second he looked back to her and spoke while keeping up with her pace. "Well, I'm a member of the Akimichi clan, oviously, we're most well known for being rather thick men and using that to our advantage. Whenever we need to we can convert some of the calories in our body into chakra for an added boost. I can almost do it perfectly now but I still have to work on more precisely converting it. Right now I burn too many calories for not enough chakra... so I still need the help of my three coulored pills to properly pull it off. Though that speecific skill is more so for emergency use only."

He looked down to the small pack he had on his leg, where he kept the pills along with a few other immediate weapons for battle. "My teammmates are Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino, and we were all trained by Sarutobi Asuma. Asuma sensei is a pretty cool guy he always helps me whenever I happen to doubt myself, which has happened alot less since I became a Chuunin." A small burst of confidence flew through Chouji as his pace quickened about a half step and he straightened his back a bit more, standing tall.

"My favorite food is barbeque pork and my favorite snack is Barbeque chips... Thats about all the basic information I can think of... What about you?"

Hitomi smiled and listened carefully to what he said, noting the most important parts. Akimichi Clan, Calorie to Chakra, Three Pills? _She noted to ask more about the pills later, perhaps when there was nothing more to talk about._ Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino, Sarutobi Asuma _Is he related to her teammate Fumio?_, and Barbeque chips. All of the information was good and relevent. Hitomi pondered for a moment, wanting to follow the same pattern of information that he'd given her.

"Uh, okay. Well, I'm a member of the Hyuga Clan, a branch family member, meaning that I have this thing..." she said. Hitomi lifted up her bangs to reveal the green Caged Bird Seal. "I'm fairly certain, knowing Hinata-chan and Neji-san, that you know about the Hyuga Clan's main techniques. Gentle Fist and such. However, there are some jutsus that you've seen Hinata and Neji perform that I cannot. Typically there are a few jutsus that are only taught to members of the main branch. I think I heard the Neji learned them on his own. Anyways, I'm also a med-nin. After my chunin exams, my byakugan kinda failed and I wasn't able to use it, and didn't know if I would ever be able to again. So I trained to become a med-nin." Hitomi stopped and pondered for a moment, wondering what else there was to say.

"My teammates are Sarutobi Fumio, Inuzuka Sumiko, and her nin-kin Hanako. They're pretty awesome, I guess. And my favorite food is pockey and I don't like fish." she finished with a smile. She looked behind her and noticed that the village was completely out of her view.

Chouji listened intently to every detail the girl said and committed as many of the details as he could to memory. He mentally paused for a moment before he looked up to the mostly clear sky. "Well, I think it's probably a good thing to have something besides your families jutsus anyways, I mean what if someone ends up being a perfect counter to the specific style of fighting." Chouji smiled warmly at Hitomi, his eyes closed as he did so.

"If anything I think you're just ahead of the curve, maybe I'll take up Genjutsu for my secondary, make people think their is ten giant meat tanks rolling at them instead of one." Chouji let out a hearty chuckle at his own idea before looking at their surroundings. "We seem to be about halfway to our first stop. At this pace we should get their just in time for the closing dinner special" A big grin grew upon Chouji's face as he thought about the fresh pieces of pork slathered in spices and ready to be devoured.

Hitomi smiled and giggled. She was a little hungry, she never got to finish the ramen she'd been eating with her teammates before being summoned by the Hokage. Food sounded great. She was certain that she would get at least three different meats. Perhaps something spicy as well. The thoughts of food made her hungry.

"I'm horrible at Genjutsu. Recognizing it too! So if we get in a bind like that, I'm counting on you." she said with a nervous laugh. She scratched the back of her head, some what uncertain about one of her biggest weakness. It was very true. It almost cost her the Chunin exams, if it weren't for Hanako she might still be a Genin. The though of that was terrible.

Chouji began rubbing the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Well, i'm not that great at spotting it either so lets just hope there is none." As the continued Chouji found the silence to bee uncomfortable so he tried to think of topics to talk about. Unfortunately for him he blurted out the first thought that came to his mind. "So, Hitomi, is there a lucky guy back in Konoha waiting for you?" Chouji immediately regretted saying it, thinking it far to personal a thing to talk about with someone you just met a few hours ago.

"uh, you don't have to answer that if you don't wan to, I undestand I mean it's not really any of my business anyways..." Chouji began continually talking to make up for his awkward question, though that probably made it more awkward as he wouldn't stop talking till she said something.

Hotomi giggled. She shook her head no. "Nope. I'm unattatched." she paused for a moment, remember what her place in a current relationship was. "I'm actually the third wheel with my team. It sorta sucks. I feel like I have to watch them on a date every time we go on a mission.

Hitomi looked over at Chouji, she suddenly thought that he was cute. _Where did that thought come from?_ she wondered. Shaking her head, ridding herself of the distracting thought. "Do you have a lucky girl back at home?" she responded in a light and teasing voice. Hitomi started walking closer to Chouji. Not for any reason, just an action by her subconcious.

Chouji scoffed lightly and glanced at her with a playful smirk. "You're joking right?" He shook his head and looked to the sky. "Girls in Konoha, they don't look at a guy like me and think 'oh hey, I'd like to date that guy' no I it's more often something like 'How can he eat so many potatoe chips in one sitting' or 'Is he seriously mad because his friend took the last chip' or if i'm lucky they might think 'Well, I certainly won't date him but maybe we can be good friends'" Chouji ihaled deeply and sighed making himself depressed thinking about his situation.

He looked to her and pointed a finger quickly. "Now, don't take what I just said as me thinking that there's something wrong with me, oh no, I am meant to be this way. I'm an Akimichi and no one can say that my body is wrong. I'm chubby and chubbies rule!" The last few words Chouji practically screamed in confidence before laughing and letting out a content sigh.

Hitomi giggled some more, almost fully laughing. "Well just for the record, I don't think there's anything wrong with you. And chubbies are the best for hugs!" Hitomi pondered for a moment before wrapping her arms around Chouji from the side. She hoped the hug didn't freak him out. She was a but of a touchy-feely person. She greets and says goodbye to her friends with a hug. She has even given people hugs when she first met them.

Hitomi released the hug and kept walking. "Those girls don't matter though. They don't deserve a nice guy if they judge a book by its cover like that.." she said softly after some thinking.

Choujis cheeks flushed red when the attractive young girl wrapped her arms around him. Even when she released him they stayed a light tint of pink. He wasn't used to any kind of attention from pretty girls, besides the common scolding by Ino. He smiled a bit and began scratching his nose when she spoke about the other girls not deserving him. "Well, I do try to be nice, I mean it's what we're supposed to do right? treat people the way you would want them to treat you."

He finally noticed that the girl was walking rather close to him and his heart leapt u into his throat for a moment. He calmed himself down before letting out a good quieted laugh. "Well, if you ever need a good hug just come find me then, I'd be more than happy to oblige." He looked ahead and grinned, pointing forward as he spotted the smoke rising from the chimney of the restaurant and their first stop. "Hey I just remembered theres an inn this way as well, though it's on the other end of this town. We should probably rest there and then wake up bright and early to make some good progress tommorrow, what do you think?"

Hitomi blushed as Chouji offered free hugs. She made a note of that, it was always good to have someone to hug. All of a sudden Hitomi realized something, she was developing a bit of a crush on her comrade. She blushed even more when she thought of that. Though it wasn't completely out of line. Afterall, he was a nice guy and he was rather cute. A realistic and completely honest kind of cute instead of a cute where the guy is completely self-absorbed. Hitomi did think it was slightly ridiculous, afterall she'd just met the guy.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

Thank you to anyone who's reading. Not much to say. The roleplay never came to a complete end, so if I get enough people reading and reviewing, I'll write my own ending. I might do that anyway.

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Hitomi looked up and saw their first destination. She smelled the delicious scent of the food and grinned. It wetted her appetite and just on cue her stomach growled. "Shut up." she whispered to her belly. She looked over at Chouji as he spoke.

"An inn sounds like a good idea. Definately better than camping!" she exclaimed as they walked through the open door of the restaurant.

Chouji chuckled at her when she scolded her tummy and continued at his same pace. When they arrived in town they saw a small group leave the restaurant and Chouji noticed it was almost dead inside. "Hmm, seems we'll have the place mostly to ourselves. That's good, I don't like my dinners to be too noisy." He smiled and pulled the curtain that sat in the doorway to the side before motioning Hitomi inside. "After you." He said politely as he waited for his partner to walk in.

A thought donned on him that, besides the major fact that the two were on a mission, this was a date. Everything fit the bill perfectly, they were getting to know each other, they were going somewhere to spend time alone, the only difference was that there was no intention of getting a kiss at the end of the night. Chouji's eyes trailed to Hitmoi's lips at the thought and his face burned up for a moment or two. He toned it down quickly though by asserting in his mind that it was definitely not a date. At least, thats what he said to himself.

"Thank you. You're such a gentleman." she said in her cute voice. Chouji was right. The place was deserted. Hitomi was fine with it though. She was enjoying her conversation with Chouji. A crowd at the restaurant would just distract her from being able to hear him. The two were quickly given a table, hidden in the back of the restaurant. Before she had time too even look at the menu, their server approached the table.  
"What would you lovebirds like to drink tonight?" Hotomi immediately blushed, se was at a loss for words. She supposed to anyone else, it would appear that they were on a date.

Chouji smiled as she commented on his behavior. He had learned from an early age to be kind and respectful to women. He remembered what his father said to his friend Shikaku once. 'You think your wife is bad? Shikaku, you haven't seen an angry woman, until you've seen an angry Akimichi woman, that's why kind-heartedness comes so naturally to our family.' He chuckled quietly at the memory and followed Hitomi to the table.

Chouji was ready to order until a single word was uttered by the waitress, 'lovebirds.' He was left mouth half open in the middle of the first word he was going to say his hand stuck in mid air. He quickly went to try and correct the woman. "No, we're not, what I mean is, we're on a mission. We just got hungry so we came here to eat." The Waitress had a catty smile on her face as she replied. "Of course, of course, whatever you say" The woman obviously didn't beleive him and Chouji surrendered from the battle of trying to convince her by simply replying. "two waters please."

As she left he couldn't even look at the Kunoichi across from him, though he knew her face was probably as red as his. He looked over and the other waitresses were now whispering amongst themselves about the two. He knew it was about them, who else would they be taking about with such coy looks on all their faces. He sighed and looked straight up at the ceiling. "Why do people have to have such one track minds... I mean A man and woman can't go anywhere without being labeled 'a couple.' it's frustrating." Chouji glanced back at the Waitresses who were now giggling along with their noisy whispers.

He finally looked at Hitomi before saying something he wasn't sure if he would regret or not. "I don't mind it though, might make people respect me a bit more, thinking I'm dating a beautiful girl from the Hyuuga clan." He made the statement very casually and didn't emphasize it at all. The water came a second after and he thanked the waitress befor taking a large gulp, practically finishing his cup immediately.

Hitomi felt the red in her face intensify as Chouji spoke. She was almost dizzy. Hitomi just looked down at her hands, placed on the table. She almost wished that Chouji hadn't said anything. She knew that it was true. They were hungry and they were on a mission. But she would've loved to have been on a date. She would've loved to be part of a 'lovebird' couple. But that wasn't realistic.

While she agreed about being labeled as a 'couple' she didn't want to think about it anymore. But even the waitresses wouldn't leave it alone. They were gossiping about the two chunin. Hitomi felt increasingly light headed when Chouji referred to her as a beautiful girl. She felt as if she was losing sensation out of embarassment. She'd seen Hinata faint several times as a child, but never had herself. But only a moment after their water was placed on the table, Hitomi, rather uncharacteristically, fainted.

Chouji didn't notice Hitomi's redness until she fainted and he rushed out of his seat over to her side of the table, he looked at her face and shook her lightly by her shoulder. "Hitomi! Are you alright!" A second later he made the connection, he had known hinata when they were younger and saw her do the same thing whenever she got around naruto, her oblivious crush. Chouji wasn't that dense and knew Hinata had fallen for Naruto from pretty much the first day she had fainted around him.

However, he didn't think Hitomi had fallen for him. Instead he assumed that fainting from any intense emberassment ran in the Hyuuga clan, at least the women. He continued to try and rouse his friend from her embaressment coma. A few waitresses came over with concerned looks

Hitomi opened her eyes to see Chouji above her. She immediately looked away and sat up. _Did I realy just faint?"_ she thought in mild disbelief. She glanced over at Chouji and then at the concerned appearing waitresses. She was embarassed again, but didn't feel like she was going to faint for a second time. Hitomi knew she had to distract everyone from the moment, but didn't know exactly what to do. "I'm fine." she whispered quickly while still wondering what she could do. And idea struck Hitomi and she pulled Chouji into her side of the booth with her.

"Think we should mess with them?" she whispered in his ear. She nodded in the direction of the gossiping waitresses before grabbing his hand and resting her head on Chouji's shoulder. She hoped that he would understand that she was wanting to pretend to be the 'lovebird' couple that they obviously were wanting to see. If that's what they wanted, then Hitomi would be certain to give them a show.

Chouji sighed when he saw her eyes flutter open and he made sure she was okay. When she pulled him into her side of the booth he wasn't sure what to do, he became dumbstruck as she held his hand and leaned against his shoulder. He thought for a second on what she said before the words actually formed a coherent thought in his head. He smirked and wrapped his large arm around her pulling her in closer. He made his fingers lace between hers and looked to the waitress as she brought some food to their table.

Chouji got an idea to add to the show as soon as the food was placed before them. He picked up a piece of barbecue pork and held it up, inspecting it. Then after a second he quickly moved it over and popped it lightly against Hitomi's nose, leaving a dot of sauce behind. He chuckled warmly before eating the first, and second most important, piece of barbecue pork. The Waitress seemed satisfied with this and walked away. The whispers became a but more busy sounding as if by his very actions the Waitresses were ready to start hooting and hollering at the two.

A small passing thought ran through Chouji's mind. 'I wonder how far Hitomi is thinking of taking this little charade?'

Hitomi was excited when Chouji wrapped his arm around her. Not only was it giving the whole restaurant a show, but it felt nice to be in his arms. She felt warm and safe. She squeezed his hand as his fingers interlaced with her own. She blushed again, but it was a good blush. She was happy. Hitomi giggled as the sauce was left on her nose. She took her napkin and removed the sauce. She looked at the meat and it smelled delicious. She quickly popped piece after piece of the tasty food into her mouth. It was as good as she remembered it being.

After sucessfully getting her stomach to stop annoying her because of the hunger, she turned her attention back to the roles that she and Chouji were supposed to be playing. She remembered the flirty move he made with the sauce and decided to take it a step further. She took a piece of meat and left a small bit of sauce on his cheek. "Here, let me get that for you." she said before leaning over and kissing the spot where she left the sauce.

Hitomi ate a few more pieces of meat before thinking up another idea, hoping that it wasn't too far for Chouji. She didn't want to make him too uncomfortable. Hitomi let a small bit of sauce right underneath her lip, she looked over at Chouji. "Is there any sauce on my face?"

Chouji began to eat along with Hitomi until the sudden sensation of a warm piece of barbecue pork on his cheek surprised him. He looked at her with the 'oh, you' look that people used when their significant other did such things but was frozen when she kissed away the mess on his cheek. He looked at her as she asked if she had any residual sauce on her face and the heat in his cheeks grew warmer.

He looked back without moving his head and then looked back at Hitomi. He smiled lightly and set his large hand to rest against her cheek. His thumb slowly slid across, just under her lip, picking up the sauce. He felt how soft her lips were and his heart skipped a beat. He almost regretted not simply kissing away the sauce from her lip as she had done to his cheek. He held his hand there for a moment before taking the sauce over to his own mouth and cleaning of his thumb. "all good." He said quietly before he quickly snatched the last piece of barbecue on the platter.

As he did their waitress brought a new plate, assuming that Chouji would need more than one. The young woman smiled and looked to the two. "So how is everything so far? Can I get you any more water?" She grabbed Chouji's water as he finished it and handed it to her.

Hitomi felt slightly light headed again when Chouji's thumb brushed her lip. She quickly reached for her water and gulped it down, distracting her mind from the flirtatiousness of the move. But Hitomi had to brush it away. There were only kidding afterall, right? Hitomi realized that she wasn't just doing all of this to mess with the waitresses. She wanted to be this close with Chouji. She thought it over in her head for a moment before coming to terms with her realization. She had a full out crush on him, after only knowing him for a few hours. The scenario was familiar. Hitomi remembered the day when Hinata first met Naruto. Obviously Hinata was a lot younger than Hitomi, but she remembered how she fell in love so quickly. _Perhaps it's a Hyuga thing?_ Hitomi wondered.

Hitomi couldn't decide if she wanted more food or not. She was already somewhat full. But the food smelled so good that she chouldn't resist a few more bites. So Hitomi did just that. She ate five or so more small pieces before relaxing back in the booth. The waitress brought back some water. Hitomi, decidedly thirsty, picked up her water and drank some more. But she wasn't looking as she placed it back on the table and the glass began tipping over. Hitomi tried to stop it from spilling all over her pants, but only made it spill all over her shirt. "Damn it." she mumbled underneath her breath. She grabbed her napkin and began trying to dry up as much as she could. Eventually Hitomi just gave up and figured that she'd have to go change into something else. She crawled over Chouji to get out of the booth they were sharing. She leaned over and whispered in Chouji's ear.

"Sorry. I'm going to go ahead to the inn and change. I'll pay for the inn, you get the food." Right after she finished she swung her backpack back onto her back and took off towards the inn. When she arrived she was shocked to find that the place was packed. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to find a room. But it was worth trying, so Hitomi made her way over to the main desk.

"Are there any vacant rooms?" she asked the man, as he was distracted reading something. The man looked up and then over to something on the wall.

"It appears that we have one room with a king sized bed left. It's the honeymoon suite. Very nice." he answered. Hitomi sighed. _One bed, huh. Well anything is better than camping. At least the honeymoon suit_ she thought to herself. Hitomi accepted the last room, reluctantly paid the expensive price, and took one of the two keys the man offered her. She gave him a basic description of Chouji before making her way to the room. She entered her key into the door and turned it.

"Woah..." she said as she saw the amazing room. The room was amazing and had everything you could ever want. The best part was that the bed was a circle. She'd never seen a bed like that in real life. Hitomi closed the door behind her before exploring the rest of the place. Further in the suite there was a large closet and the most luxurious bathroom she'd ever seen. _I'm sooooo taking a bubble bath tonight._ she thought to herself. Hitomi spent several minutes looking around before she remembered why she was there alone.

Hitomi stripped off her dress and bra and hung them in the bathroom to dry. She walked around the room shirtless as she unpacked her backpack and started putting her clothes away.

Chouji smiled as he continued to eat the pork until the second plate was near clean. He saw the incident with the water and wasn't sure how to react. He wanted to help but he couldn't really help her to dry her shirt without looking like a pervert. As she suddenly began crawling over him he swallowed hard and looked straight ahead not trying to stare at her wet shirt. He was surprised at how easily she got out of the booth. He noted how nimble she was in his head hoping maybe it'd come in handy if they ever got into a fight while on their mission. He nodded as she spoke and finished off the pork in only a few minutes. When he stood the Waitress frowned slightly. "Aw, something happen with your girl, Hun?" Chouji chuckled and waved his hand at the woman. "No, no, she just spilled a bit of water on her blouse, she went to the inn to go change."

The woman seemed to get a bit more interested as he said that and leaned forward. "Oh, you two sharing a night at the inn together? Well don't you do anything I wouldn't do, you hear me?" She smiled playfully and winked at the boy as he payed. He let out a nervous laugh before walking out of the restaurant and heading towards the inn. He looked around the packed lobby before finding the help desk. "Umm, excuse me sir I'm loo-" CHouji was cut off by the man behind the desk who spoke quite loudly, probably to speak over all the other commotion going on around them.l "AH! There you are, your lady friend left a description of you but I wasn't sure if I would truly know it was you, but she was right on the money... Even down to the swirls on your cheeks. Here you are on the very top floor." Chouji nodded and thanked the man before walking off towards the stairs.

After reaching the top floor he looked around for his room only to end up at a very lavish looking door. He placed his key inside it and opened it slowly, the door didn't make a sound. He looked around the entrance of the room before stepping in and shutting it. He was taken back at the luxury of it all. What stopped him most was the beautiful girl standing with her back to him, shitless. He was amazed at her flawless skin and the curve and contours of her body. His face warmed up instantly and he turned his whole body on one heel. "uh, I-I'm here!" Was all he could muster with the thought of her body in his mind. His back was straight as an arrow and he stood with his hands to his side. He did not move from this position. Waiting for the kunoichi to signal that he was okay to turn.

Hitomi jumped as she heard someone in the room with her. She turned her head just as Chouji was turning around. She blushed pretty quickly. "I-I didn't know you'd be back so so-close the door, oh it is closed-so soon. I-uh..." Hitomi grabbed her green sweatshirt and quickly pulled it over her head. "You can turn around now." Hitomi's cheeks were still blushed from embarasment. She silently put away the rest of her clothes into a drawer before falling backwards onto the bed with a sigh. She stretched her arms and legs before rolling over onto her left side so that she could look over at Chouji.

"This was the only room left." she said simply. She hoped that he wouldn't freak out over the one bed. It was more than big enough for both of them to have plenty of their own space. It annoyed Hitomi when people insisted that they'd sleep on the floor. Hitomi couldn't sleep that way. She would just feel guilty the whole night.

Chouji heard the OK and turned slowly before setting down his gear and walking over to the bed. He sat down on his side and looked around. "So big..." He mumbled under his breath before he heard Hitomi speak again. He nodded and thought about why she said that. It took until now for him to realise there was only one bed in the whole room. He turned to look at Hitomi and then he looked at the bed. He smiled and let out a small laugh. "Well, good thing I'm not like my teammate Shikamaru, he rolls all over when he's asleep, if I did that, you'd probably be crushed by morning." He laughed a bit more before finally laying down and pacing both of his hands on his stomach. He stared aimlessly at the ceiling as he tried to fall asleep.

He closed his eyes and of course the first thing to pop into his mind was the sight of his partner topless from before. He tried to shake the thought but anytime he closed his eyes it was the first thing he envisioned. He sighed and the sat up. He had never gotten so worked up before and he couldn't do anything but sigh and feel flustered. Even worse was thinking about anything else always led back to Hitomi now. He tried to think of food but that only brought about their flirtatious date. Chouji sighed heavily, nearing the sound of a groan before standing up and walking to the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had never lied looking into mirrors. He knew what he looked like, he didn't need a reminder. He didn't hate the way he looked, but once in a great while he wondered what his life would be like if he had been born without the Akimichi gift.

He decided now was as good a time as any to take a quick shower. He removed his shirt and slipped off his pants before starting the water. The room quickly filled with steam and he let out a long sigh of relief. The steam alone felt nice, the hot shower was going to be amazing. He finally slipped off his boxers and jumped into the shower.

Hitomi smiled. She was sure that nothing like that would ever happen but was amused either way. Hitomi felt the exhaustion already setting in. She stared up at the ceiling for a few moments before closing her eyes and drifting towards sleep. But she was awakened from her half-sleep as Chouji got out of their bed and went to the bathroom. She remembered the bathtub and smiled. She was definately going to take that bath, but it now seemed like it would be better to take the bubble bath in the morning. She was an early riser and the bath would wake her up fully for the day that was going to be a long one.

Hitomi heard the door to the bathroom close and jumped out of the bed. She kept on her sweatshirt, it was comfortable, but she changed into a pair of shorts that showed of her shapely legs. Hitomi brushed her hair, making the curls straighten out. Her hair looked several inches longer when it was straight. Hitomi smiled before climbing back into bed and falling asleep. After falling asleep Hitomi tossed and turned a few times, making her sweatshirt bunch up, revealing her stomach. She laid on her right side and her hair laid out on her pillow. Her face was completely serene as she began dreaming.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:**

This chapter is the last one for now unless people request more. It's as far as the RP went.

* * *

The hot shower was just what Chouji needed to get himself eased up from his unusually tense finally stepped out and put a new shirt and a pair of loose pajama like pants on before walking out of the bathroom and slowly placing himself on the bed. He took a moment to smile at Hitomi who was sound asleep beside him. he saw her shirt had bunched up and resisted the urge he had to playfully poke at her tummy. He sighed and laid down finally his hands back atop his stomach and his body relaxed. He closed his eyes and finally fell asleep. He did not move even a little bit the whole night through.

It was only and hour or so before sunrise when Hitomi awoke screaming. She bolted up into a sitting position and felt tears falling onto the bed's sheets. She didn't immediately remember the nightmare, but knew what it was about before anything from the dream itself came back. Hitomi curled up into a ball and continued sobbing, completely forgetting that she wasn't alone. Hitomi knew that she'd dreamed about the day after she'd become a Chunin. She wasn't the only one who had nightmares about that day. Both of her teammates had nightmares, and they always had the same dream at the same time. Whenever that happened the three of them would meet up at her house. But now Hitomi was apart from them.

Chouji was awoken by the sudden screech from the woman next to him and flailed a moment before falling off the bed. When he finally woke up enough o realise what had happened he stood up and looked at Hitomi. He saw her curled tightly in a ball and she was crying rather hard. He wasn't sure what to do for a few seconds and simply stood there dumbfounded. Finally his nurturing instincts kicked in and he sat on the bed before moving himself closer to her. He placed his hands carefully at her sides and lifted he from her curled position until she was in his arms. He didn't speak a word, save for a few 'shh' to calm her. His voice was tender and for all the strength he could exert his true gift was the gentle caress he used on the girl now.

He finally spoke up as his hand slowly moved along the girls back. "It's alright, you're okay now, just relax...I got you." He couldn't think of any specific things to say, he still didn't know the reason for her sudden outburst. All he could do is use the same words his mother would have used if he was in the same state as Hitomi.

Hitomi was startled when Chouji put his arms around her. She could barely breathe between her sobs, not to mention formulate words. Most of the nightmare wasn't realy, they were visions seen in a genjutsu she and her teammates had been under several years ago. The dreams were always slightly different, each time even more terrible. Each time more and more horrible things happened. But the ending was always the same. The ending was always death. The ending was always her fault. She didn't know what caused the nightmares, no one did. They'd come to the conclusion that it was an after-effect of the strange Genjutsu they'd been put under. But there was always the possiblity that the Genjutsu user was still after her team, and most specifically her because of her actions during the Chunin exams.

Hitomi heard Chouji's voice and it broke her out of her sorrow. She could feel herself pretty much shaking. She turned so that her head was burried in Chouji's chest. He felt so warm and comfortable. Hitomi extended her own arms and pulled him close. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to wake you..." she managed to say between sobs. She gradually started calming down, taking several deep breaths. If she were at home, she'd be getting the door for Fumio and Sumiko around now. She hoped her teammates were alright. Eventually her crying stopped and she looked up at Chouji, uncertain of what to say or do.

Chouji smiled down at the kunoichi who was wrapped in his arms and ran a single hand gently through her hair. He chuckled quietly and continued to comfort her. "Don't worry about that now, just worry about feeling better." His words were practically a whisper as he continued to rub the girls back and hold her close. When she finally stopped crying and she looked up at him his smile held steadfast to his lips and he spoke again, a bit more audible this time.

"All better now? Did you have a bad dream? If you don't want to talk about it it's fine, as long as you're okay now." The large ninja loosened his hold on the girl so if she wanted she could move away. He had a strange feeling, however, that she wouldn't be moving from his embrace any time soon. Wether she did or not was not his concern, it was if she was okay or if the nightmare she had shook her up too much.

Hitomi held Chouji closer when he loosened his hold. She sat up a little more and rested her head on his shoulder. "It-it was a nightmare." she answered in a whisper. Her voice was still shaky from crying. Hitomi tried her best to get the dream out of her mind. She focused on the warmnness of Chouji's body. She focused on how comfortable she was and how nice being wrapped in his arms was. She felt safer than ever. She hear Chouji's heartbeat and listened to the steady rhythem. Pretty soon she found herself matching the same hearbeat with her own. It was curious, but still calming. Everything around her was calming and Hitomi's eyes began slowly closing. Before even realizing it herself, Hitomi fell back asleep.

Feeling the tug from the young woman in his arms, Chouji's arms fixed back into their original embrace. He held her close and felt her warmth on his own. It was comfortable for him to feel such a thing. Her soft hair tickled at his cheek and soon he fond he was holding the girl as she slept. A small silent chuckle escaped the large ninja, his stomach shaking lightly with the laughter. He then, deciding it would be rude to wake her, fell asleep sitting up with her in his arms. It was actually rather comfortable for him. His back supported by the head of the bed and his arms rested on the girls body. His eyes slowly closed themselves and he faded into sleep once more.

A ray of sunshine awoke Hitomi. She felt warm and comfortable as her eyes gently opened. She then realized that someone was holding her. She looked up and saw Chouji. He'd fallen back asleep as well, with her in his arms. Hitomi was shocked. She barely remembered the few minutes she'd been awake after the nightmare, but realized how kind and gentle Chouji was. She felt that most people wouldn't be as careful and thoughtful in that situation. Hitomi watched as Chouji slept, taking care not to move. He was so cute as he slept. She could feel his breathing. Everything in that moment was just calm. But noticing the sunshine she realized that they would have to get up soon to start on their mission. Hitomi noticed that his cheek was close to her face. She gently lifted her head and gave him a kiss on the cheek, hoping that it would gently awaken him.

Chouji was deep into his own mind as he slept. He wasn't dreaming but he wasn't ware of his physical surroundings. His mind slowly moved towards being awake as the small rustling of the girl in his arms begn. As she kissed his cheek his eyes opened and he leaned back a bit and yawned loudly. Once his bellowing yawn was done he looked down at the girl and smiled. "Good morning, you feeling better now?" CHouji's eyes were half open as sleep kepy his eyelids heavy. He didn't dare move his arms until the girl moved herself from his grip. Once she did he would immediately stretch and rub his eyes before standing up and stretching out his back and legs a bit more.

Hitomi giggled in response to Chouji's yawn. She thought it was adorable. And so was his smile. Hitomi blushed as she looked up at his sleepy eyes. "Y-yes." she answered softly and she hung her head. After a moment she embraced Chouji. "Thank you." she whispered briefly before crawling out of Chouji's arms. She quickly rolled out of the bed and into the bathroom, grabbing her clothes and other belongings before shutting the door. A few seconds later the shower was running. To her disappointment she didn't leave enough time to take the bubble bath she'd promised herself. Hitomi stripped off her clothes and took a shower. Only ten minutes later Hitomi was dressed and mostly ready to go. She had the two large curlers in her hair. She'd take them off in a few minutes.

Chouji was startled by the hug the young girl gave him and chuckled as she rolled off the bed. He shook his head as she closed the door to the bathroom. "Girls are so amusing sometimes." He spoke to himself as he began getting himself ready with his gear and armor. Once he was ready he looked at a map of fire country that he had and started plotting out their next stop. He nodded to himself silently and smiled as he had figured out their next two days worth of travel. "Good so our next stop if that curry shop that we should get to at about noon... I'll have to see if she's hungry, we can get some breakfast before we leave town... maybe just some sweet dumplings."

Chouji thought about the waitresses from yesterday and chuckled to himself at the thought of if they saw them getting their breakfast. "A sweet dumpling for my sweet dumpling." Chouji said out loud while thinking of what he would say to continue to trick the waitresses. As he spoke these words it would have been about ten minutes since his partner had entered the shower.

Hitomi's jaw dropped as she walked into the bedroom again and heard Chouji's words. She stood there confused for a moment before laughing hysterically. "That's the best line ever! she exclaimed as she jumped onto the bed. She rolled on the bed in laughter before taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She turned so that she could look at Chouji. "We have to use that. I'm not really hungry yet, but I can think of a place to go for breakfast." she spoke outloud in a devious tone, followed by a ridiculously fake evil laugh. She stood up and pulled her backpack on. Hitomi quickly pulled the curlers out of her hair and dropped them into the bag. She picked up the keys to the room and opened the door. "You up for round two?" she asked as she took Chouji's hand and walked out of the room. She bounced down the stairs and returned her keys, thanking the man at the front desk and complimenting his inn.

The orange haired ninja was startled by the uproar from Hitomi and turned to look at her rolling on the bed. He watched the girls animated demeanor as she prepared herself to leave. He looked back at the room as they left and had a tinge of worry on his face. With his other companions they wouldn't leave a place like this until they had straightened up and cleaned everything, mainly because of Ino. He looked to the Inn keeper and gave a small apology for the room which a few moments later made him regret it thinking that the Innkeeper would now think of him and Hitomi as the waitresses did the other day.

As the two found their way out of the inn he looked around and saw the small shop that sold Dango, Pocky, and all other kinds of sweet snacks for the hungry traveler. He pointed to it with his free hand and smiled. He didn't mind Hitomi's grip anymore. It seemed that after the incidents they had been through yesterday, holding hands was the least embarrassing thing they could do. "That's where I was talking about before you came back into the bedroom. They have a big selection of sweets, my favorite is the dumplings."

Hitomi stopped. She remembered his words and her original decision as to what they meant. She closed her eyes and dropped his hand from hers. "O-oh. Okay." she remarked. She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice as she spoke. She'd been so wrapped up in recreating the night from before that she hadn't thought of anything else. Then she paused. No, that didn't make sense. 'A sweet dumpling for my sweet dumpling.' Hitomi's head raised and her eyes caught Chouji's. _'For my sweet dumpling...'_ Hitomi closed her eyes for just a moment and smiled. She opened them again and took Chouji's hand as they walked into the store. She immediately grabbed the pocky and smiled. "I know its not a breakfast food..." she joked. She heard someone behind her and glanced in that direction. She gasped as she saw two of the waitresses from last night. They heard her gasp and looked over at her. Hitomi looked away blushing. She heard them whisper something about the lovebirds having a good time last night and most likely sharing a bed. Hitomi blushed even more and felt the lightheadedness again. She felt her knees wobble before collapsing in a faint once again.

Chouji tilted his head in confusion as the girl obviously seemed disappointed about something. He wasn't sure what it was but it seemed to subside rather quickly as she grabbed his hand once more and pulledhim along into the shop. He saw her react for the pocky and chuckled. "Well it doesn't matter if it's breakfast this is more for energy than anything, hey you okay?" The large chuunin looked at Hitomi as she seemed o be getting red suddenly. He was sure of what was coming next. He moved his hands behind her and caught her before she even fell back a few inches. He sighed and pulled her to him before lifting her up into his arms. He excused himself through the small crowd to a bench just outside the store. He sat down and set the kunoichi down next to him he looked up at the sky and waited for her to awaken from her fainting spell.

Hitomi's eyea fluttered open suddenly. She sat up without looking around and ended up butting heads with Chouji. The collision sent her flailing to the ground. She rubbed her head for a moment before looking up and giggling. "Sorry!" she exclaimed as she jumped onto her feet in a way that only a ninja could. Hitomi reached out a hand for Chouji to take. As she did the waitresses she'd fainted infront of, twice now, left the store. Hitomi turned her attention back to Chouji. "What would I do without you?" she mused as she tilted her head to the side and smiled sweetly.

Chouji saw the girl finally coming to and smiled, opening his mouth to speak was met with his forehead being assaulted by the recently awoken girl. He rubbed his head for a moment before laughing. As she offered her hand he stood and took it in his. "Well, you'd have a lot more bruises on the back of your head that's for sure." He teased her as they went back to the store passing the waitresses with a quick glance. Chouji gave them a knowing look as if to tell them to stop pestering the two while they were there. The women whispered a bit but continued on their way away from the shop.

Chouji finally purchased his sweet dumplings and bought Hitomi a large box of pocky to snack on while the continued on their path. He handed her the box with a single piece sticking up above the rest. "Here, you'll need the energy to burn while we try to get to our next stop. It's a really good curry shop out at the base of the mountain just after we leave fire country." He smiled and looked to the sky. The sun wasn't too high yet so they still had a good amount of daylight to burn before having to stop again.

Hitomi thanked Chouji and eagerly took the box of pockey. She took her time eating as they walked, enjoying every bite of the delicious food. She looked over at Chouji for a moment before gazing ahead at the road. She felt like she was suddenly suck a weakling, between her nightmare and the fainting. It wasn't typical for her, Hitomi liked to think of herself as being rather strong. She frowned for a moment as she pondered. She was unsure if the nightmares would continue, thought hopefully the fainting would. She could at the very least control that more.

Hitomi nodded at his comment about the curry shop. She finished a few sticks of pocky before stuffing it in her backpack. She sighed for a moment, her mind drifting back to the nightmare. She felt as if she owed Chouji an explination, even if she didn't know the whole reason behind the dreams. "Chouji-kun, I really am sorry about waking you up last night. You were really sweet though, thank you, it helped a lot. Though I do feel like I owe you an explination now..." she said slowly, but with her typical upbeat tone behind it.

Chouji was happily going to work eating his sweet dumplings. As he ate every so often he would make a small 'humm' or 'mmhmm' as he took a particularly delicious bite. The sweet dumplings may not have the same power that a savory piece of barbecue does but it still satisfied some part of Chouji's taste buds and that was all he could ask for from any food. He listened as his partner spoke and waved his hand immediately as soon as she said the word 'explanation.' He looked up at the sky and smiled brightly before glancing back down at Hitomi.

"You were scared, whatever it was that scared you isn't important. I helped you out as I would any other person who was scared in the middle of the night. Though if it was Shikamaru I don't think I'd have hugged him all night, he probably would've thought that was weird, heh or 'troublesome.'" Chouji chuckled as he thought about the night and raised his hand to rub the back of his head. "If you 'want' to talk about it that's fine with me." He looked ahead and saw the fork in the road that they were tried to remember if they had to go down the left or right path to avoid heading straight for a town known more for it's ruffians and bandits than for it's food or hotels. "This way he said half sure of himself as he headed down the left path." Title:

Hitomi smiled sweetly. She wasn't quite sure what she would say if she did explain her strange nightmares to him. So she just nodded and smiled, giggling a little at his joke. It seemed that Shikamaru was a huge influence on his life and Hitomi didn't mind. Best friends were valuable, she was glad that she'd been put on a team with such great people. She couldn't imagine going on missions with people who she hated. Hitomi and Chouji walked in a rather comfortable silence for awhile. She raised her gaze to see three rather large men standing in the road. They didn't move as they approached.

"You have to pay the toll." the man in the middle of the group said. Hitomi tilted her head. "What toll?" she asked. The men all grinned. "Whatever you have on you will suffice." the first man reached for Hitomi's bag but Hitomi caught an odd glint in his eyes as his hand changed direction and grabbed her ass. Hitomi snarled as she turned around. "You did not just do that!" Hitomi kicked him in the gut but it didn't seem to affect him. He easily pushed her to the ground, only angering her more. _"Byakugan!"_ Hitomi jumped to her feet and stood in position, ready to use her gentle fist against him. Another of the men tried to attack her from behind, obviously not understanding the byakugan. She easily turned and struck him in the chest a few times, her chakra interrupting his own flow. Within seconds he wasn't able to move until his body repaired himself. She turned her attention back to the first man, barely noticing that the third man seemed to be dealing with Chouji.

Chouji saw the men in front of them and his face became serious. When the two men went for her he was quick to try and stop them but the other man had grabbed him by the neck and tried to choke him to death. Chouji wouldn't have this however and expanded his whole body till he was three times his normal size. The man fell from around his back and Chouji turned quick to kick the man aside like a small balled up piece of paper. He then took the last man standing and picked him up off the ground by his collar.

"You really picked the wrong targets for this one buddy." The man began pleading with the giant Akimichi and he looked to Hitomi. "What should we do with him? We can't just let him stay here and keep attacking travelers. Is there a jailhouse or some guards anywhere nearby?" As he spoke the man quickly grabbed a dagger from his boot and stabbed Chouji's enlarged hand. He dropped the man who immediately ran off. Luckily in this state, when Chouji reverted to his normal height the wound was more like a papercut. "Damn highwaymen."

Hitomi's byakugan quickly measured the first man's strengths, which incidentally was his strength. His muscles were enormous and there was no wonder that her kick barely affected him at all, it would take more than that to get him. Luckily for Hitomi, she did have more than that. She grinned, typical Hyuga confidence shining as she waved her hand, asking for him to 'bring it'. The man was clearly angered by her attitude and came at her, fists flying. But before he could do anything Chouji picked him up off of the ground. Hitomi frowned and crossed her arms, she wanted to bring him down herself. No one got away with 'feeling her up' without her permission. Especially scum like him. Hitomi shrugged at Chouji's question. She really didn't know the area very well. Before Hitomi could react, the man was surprisingly fast, the man had stabbed her teammate's arm.

As soon as the man reached the ground, Hitomi was ready to bring him down as well. She didn't take it easy on him, her hands moving in a blur as she used her clan's unique abilities to bring him down. Now all three men who'd threatened them were down. She quickly remembered Chouji's and and immediately returned to him, leaving the last man on the ground and unattended to. "Let me help." she said as she reached for his hand. If it really was as small as a paper cut then she'd just clean and bandage it. If it was more she'd use her medical ninjutsu.

Chouji chuckled at the three toppled men and thought for a moment as his ally cleaned his minor wound. A thought popped into his head and he opened his pack and searched around for a moment or two. He finally found his weapon of choice for the situation, a long thick rope. He pulled all the men to a nearby tree and tied them each to both each other and the tree. "Good enough for now." He smiled as he patted his hand together in a 'job well done' manner.

He turned back to his pack and quickly grabbed out the map. Scanning it for a moment he sighed and looked at Hitomi with a look of unease. "I sent us down the wrong way in that fork in tho road... we were supposed to go right, not left." He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head before collecting himself and getting ready to double time it back to the fork in the road. "well, shall we get going, we're gonna have to run back to the fork if we're going to make it in time for dinner at the curry shop."

Chouji's wound was small, too small for medical ninjutsu. Still she cleaned it and bandaged it. She managed with ease. It was clear that she'd done this over and over again. Almost the instant she finished, Chouji pulled away to tie the three men to the tree using the rope he'd brought with him. She crossed her arms and smiled, watching as he quickly finished and brushed his hands together.

She looked over his shoulder at the map and caught his uneasy gaze as he looked to her. She shrugged, accepting rather quickly that they'd gone the wrong way. She was fine with speeding up their pace, as long as they got back on track. At the very least they managed to take care of the men who would've terrorized anyone else who came that way. At least the two of them could handle them rather easily.

"I'm fine with running." she replied with a small smile. She pulled her bag highed up on her shoulders and turned back towards the fork where they'd come from. Without a warning she took off. She loved the breeze in her hair. For a moment she closed her eyes just to enjoy it more.

Chouji smile a bit relieved that she wasn't like Ino in the respect of him making a mistake. Somehow, the lithe blond always found a way to get it back to his weight, though she did seem to be easing up on it in more recent days. He followed quickly behind Hitomi and made sure to keep up with her to the best of his abilities. They soon found themselves at the fork once more and Chouji stopped for a moment looking at the sky. "We have another two hours or so to get to our next stop, we'll probably need a bit more speed than we had just getting back to here, sorry." Chouji rubbed the back of his head for a moment before the two began again making their way to the curry shop that he had recommended for them.

The trip to the shop was relatively unremarkable, save for the passing thoughts in Chouji's mind. He was interested in his partner for this one, more so because of her unique attitude. Most people he met were relatively nice but she seemed especially so. She was a lot like Hinata in that sense, but as he recalled she also did not take much crap from men who though themselves better than her. This made her more like Sakura and Ino, those two were busier fighting each other than men though. He laughed to himself on that thought and glanced over hoping she didn't notice his small outburst.

After a nice two and a half hour trip through the forest they finally arrived at the curry shop. The woman was just starting to close up and Chouji dropped to stand a few feet behind her. "Aw man!...We're too late." The older woman turned slowly and grinned at him. "Well that's where you're wrong my pleasantly plump lad, I have a small portion of curry left over. I was going to bring it home but I have enough of this stuff as it is, just a few coins and it'll be yours." Chouji sighed in relief and thanked the woman repeatedly as he grabbed out his money and handed it to her. "Well then, that's that... Oh, I almost forgot, I only have one set of chopsticks so, you'll have to share." The woman seemed to have a teasingly coy smile as she turned and walked away.

"Somehow I think she assumed we were together too..." Chouji sighed and opened up the small package to examine the curry inside. "Well it seems fine, OK so You can have this and I'll just wait until we get to the next stop." He spoke matter of factly as he held the food out to her with the chopsticks still in the small compartment on the side of the dish.

Hitomi didn't exactly enjoy being in silence as they made their way to the curry shop. But at the same time she couldn't think of anything to say to Chouji. Every time she looked over at him she blushed and she didn't exactly know why. Actually, in retrospect she knew exactly why. She admired him. She admired how kind he was and how caring he was. While at the same time he was a ninja and he seemed to take that seriously. She respected him and was definitely finding herself caring for him.

When they finally arrived at the curry shop Hitomi had to catch her breath for a moment. She stretched her arms above her head as she followed Chouji. Hitomi smiled with relief as she heard that the woman had some left.

Hitomi giggled at his comment that she assumed they were together. "I consider myself lucky that people assume that." she smiled. It was an honest statement but she didn't exactly plan on saying anything like that. She blushed and looked away for a moment. She then looked into the small package with Chouji and found that it was barely enough for one person. She frowned sadly. But then he offered the food to her. She blinked a few times in shock. Her teammates would've either taken it for themselves or split it.

"I can't do that. Let's split it, it'll be a good snack and then we'll have a meal later."

Chouji couldn't help but grow bright red in the cheeks at Hitomi's words, if he was any more unfamiliar with how to woo women, he might have said something stupid in reply. Luckily, he was smart enough to avoid that and simply lookaway while splitting the box of curry evenly after hearing her say that would be the plan. It was eating at him that she had said than and the fact that it was such a foreign concept to him, the fact that a woman could actually think she would be lucky to have people think they were together, he just couldn't wrap his mind around it. He handed her her share and ate hi very slowly, again a long space of silence passed before Chouji could hold it in no longer and looked at Hitomi with an expression of half hopeful confusion. "Y-you really feel that way? I mean, you like the idea that people think we're-" Chouji had to stop at his next words as he was having a hard time even thinking them. "A couple?" Chouji had no doubt in his mind that he found this girl extremely attractive, he might even go as far to say she was prettier than Ino, who thus far was the prettiest girl he knew.

Hitomi could feel the awkwardness between them during the next few moments of silence. She quickly began regretting what she'd said. She was certain that the silence meant that he didn't feel the same way at all. Hitomi began worrying that everything was just him tolerating her, not him liking her or even wanting to be friends. She ate her curry quickly, eager to move onto something else so that she could distract herself from the horrible choice in words she'd just said. Just when she finished her half of the food she heard Chouji start talkig. She blushed in response to his words, but also felt a certain amount of relief wash through her.  
"Of course! You're probably the nicest sweetest guy I've ever met. You're a great shinobi! And you're hilarious...and..." Hitomi blushed a deep red.

Chouji began chuckling quietly as she bursted out with her reasons for thinking the way she did. He always assumed that pretty girls were attracted to bad boys. However, because he was so nice, even though that was just who he was it made her like him more. Chouji was very unfamiliar with the situation as it had ended up becoming a pivotal moment in his life. The large shinobi could only smile at the girl for a moment, his eyes fixated on the cutest blush she had formed on her cheeks. "Well don't faint on me now okay we got a ways to go before we can end the day." The orange haired ninja swallowed hard and turned his back to his kunoichi partner before taking a deep breath. "So... when we get back from this mission... if I, maybe, asked to take you out for some ramen or something... would you say yes?"

The reason he had faced away from Hitomi for this question was that the very idea of asking her made his stomach tie itself into a hundred knots and his face was sure to either pale or flush red similar to her own. He didn't wait for her answer however as he pointed to the direction they would have to continue in. "You don't have to answer that now... I... I'd be okay with waiting to find out until we get back... but anyways we gotta move, it looks like a storm headed this way and I wanna be in the village where are mission is taking place before it hits." With those words he rushed off towards the trees before bounding up and continuing their trek farther away from home.

Hitomi stood completely still as she listened to what Chouji was saying. Her mouth hung open in shock and for a moment she almost felt as if it were hard to breathe. She'd never been asked out on a date before. She'd only known him for such a short amount of time, but she already found herself having feelings for him. They weren't strong enough that she would say that she was madly in love with him, but she was well on her way there. Before she could fully process everything that'd taken place, he'd taken off rather quickly. She knew right away that her answer was yes, she just didn't know how to say that.  
She regathered herself before taking off after Chouji. It took her well over a minute to catch up to him. She was still blushing and smiling when she did.  
"H-how much further until we reach our destination?" she asked. She still had to think about how she was going to respond to him asking her out. But she knew that she'd put a lot of thought into it.


End file.
